When something deeply upsetting happens, like an accident or a frightening event, most people eventually recover. But some people continue to suffer long after the danger has passed. This condition is known as post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD.
It includes symptoms like flashbacks, nightmares, anxiety, and avoidance of reminders of the trauma. For many years, scientists have tried to understand why only some people develop PTSD after trauma while others don’t. A new study from Baycrest offers an important clue: the way our minds picture and remember events might play a big role.
The study, published in Clinical Psychological Science, shows that people who tend to form very vivid mental pictures may be more likely to develop PTSD after a traumatic event. In contrast, those who are better at understanding where things are in space — like how to mentally picture the layout of a room — might be more protected from developing PTSD symptoms.
The research team was led by Dr. Brian Levine and Dr. Ryan Yeung at the Rotman Research Institute, which is part of the Baycrest Academy for Research and Education in Canada. They wanted to know how different types of mental imagery relate to PTSD symptoms.
Mental imagery is the ability to imagine things in your mind without actually seeing them. It’s something we all use in daily life — like picturing your favorite beach, remembering the color of your car, or figuring out how to move furniture in your house.
In this study, the researchers asked more than 800 adults who had experienced trauma to fill out online surveys. The questions asked about their mental health, their experiences with trauma, PTSD symptoms, and their ability to picture things in their minds.
These mental pictures were divided into two types: visual imagery and spatial imagery. Visual imagery is about how clearly you can see shapes, colors, and details in your mind. Spatial imagery is about how well you can imagine where things are located and how they move or fit together in space.
The study found that people who had more vivid visual imagery tended to have more severe PTSD symptoms. This was true regardless of their age or gender. Interestingly, people who were better at spatial imagery had fewer PTSD symptoms. However, this connection was mostly seen in men in a group of university students who were also tested.
Dr. Levine explained that being able to clearly picture past events is usually helpful. For example, it helps us learn, remember important life events, and solve problems.
But when the memory is painful or traumatic, vivid mental pictures can become overwhelming. These images can make it harder to recover because the brain keeps replaying the upsetting experience, almost like a movie on repeat.
On the other hand, people who are skilled at spatial thinking might be better at mentally organizing their memories or seeing their life as a larger picture. This might help them recover more easily, even after a stressful event.
Dr. Yeung added that understanding how people differ in these memory skills could help doctors and therapists identify who might be more vulnerable to PTSD. It could also allow early support and treatment to be offered before symptoms become severe.
The researchers are planning more studies in the future. They want to follow people over time — for example, paramedic students who will face traumatic situations during their jobs — to see how imagery affects mental health in the long run. They also plan to explore how gender and biology may influence how people use mental imagery and how this connects to PTSD.
In summary, this study shows that how we remember things — especially how vividly we picture them — may affect how we deal with trauma. People who can’t stop imagining the details of a traumatic event may be more likely to develop PTSD.
Meanwhile, being able to understand and picture things in space could offer some protection. These findings open up new ways to predict who might need more help after trauma and how to support them better.
If you care about mental health, please read studies about 6 foods you can eat to improve mental health, and B vitamins could help prevent depression and anxiety.
For more health information, please see recent studies about how dairy foods may influence depression risk, and results showing Omega-3 fats may help reduce depression.
The research findings can be found in Clinical Psychological Science.
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